Voodoo
by The Varajan
Summary: In the Sen Jin village, a hateful enemy threatens to shatter the lives of the peaceful troll inhabitants. And it came to be that the youngest of tribesmen, took charge to save their people.
1. Chapter 1

**This is just s short story about a Troll and his coming of age as a hunter. I hope you like it. Here's a cookie! I don't own Blizzard, warcraft nor am I affiliated in any way. Drats**

**The Raptor**

Zepylo was a troll living in Durotar in the Sen Jin village, he was sixteen and today was his coming of age as a hunter.

The young troll was well liked enough in his village, he was funny and creative and everyone found him refreshing. He was however a bit of a loner, he had no solid friends to speak of, his personality put off people. He wasn't mean or arrogant or smug, he was simply eccentric even at his young age and this made him an outcast of sorts in the tribe.

He got along better with the elders of the tribe than with the children his age, he had however friends all over Azeroth. He had befriended an undead alchemist who had a strangely charming and sunny personality named Rakanus, an Orc that lived in nearby Orgrimmar with his sister; Dhrok and Laki respectively. And lastly a very kind but shy Blood Elf named Seraph.

He met them through the city of Orgrimmar and wrote to them almost every week and sent them stuff from time to time. Be it little trinkets he made, recipes from troll cuisine, or just pages of the short stories he liked to write. In them he would invent stories about all of them as adults, in which they lead armies and freed Azeroth of war and evil.

Zepylo was in all intents and purposes a dreamer. He was not however in a dreamy state of mind as he was sitting with other initiates in a circle around a fire in the Valley of Trials.

His heart was in his throat, he was sweaty and excited. He hesitated when the Orc in charge called his name. "Zepylo, hunter of the Darkspear Tribe!" shouted the Orc as he gestured for the troll shaman initiate who was before to sit down.

Zepylo gulped and stood up and walked over to the Orc, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head, the Orc placed both hands on his shoulders. "Zepylo you are a child of the Darkspear tribe, member of the Horde in equal status as any one of us. You have worked long and hard for this day, today is the day you are recognized as an adult, should you pass your test of cunning as a hunter, go to Minshina, he will tell you what needs to be done", said the Orc as he gestured the young troll to sit down.

Zepylo exhaled nervously as he plopped back onto the ground. He scooped up a fistful of the orange sand, and acknowledged that the short ceremony was not painful at all or as scary as he thought it would be, maybe the business of becoming a warrior of the Horde and an adult was not so hard.

After the ceremony was over, all the young children were chatting amongst themselves happily, friends embracing each other, girls gossiping.

The teachers looked at their students with scrutiny, singling out who was the most promising and who was the least promising. Amongst them, a red haired and robed troll, noticed Zepylo walking away from the group.

He looked at the young troll wrapping himself in a long cloth, with the same vibrant color of the sand. Minshina followed the boy to where he was heading, the young troll walking to the entrance of the Valley of Trials.

The same went between a crack in the thick stone wall and slipped into a small cavern in the same stone. He had several things hidden away there, snacks, a few books, trinkets made from roots and boar tusks. This is where Zepylo liked to come to think, he was surprised when Minshina called out to him from outside the cavern.

"Hey boyo! Come out, we have to talk mon" said the robed troll, Zepylo hesitantly peered his head out his little sanctuary.

"Heyas mon, I am Minshina and I be your teacher for the hunter's test", Zepylo came out and bowed to his teacher, he was surprised when Minshina returned the bow.

Adults don't usually do that.

"Why you bow to me, teacher?"

"Because in life I have learned one must always be humble" he said simply and with a smile on his face, a silence descended upon the pair.

"And what you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Zepylo gently

"Nutting, I just wanted to say hello to me student". Minshina walked away without saying anything more, Zepylo didn't think his teacher's thinking was strange, he did things like that all the time.

As he plopped back into his cave and lit three candles he took out a splinter of charcoal and thought about how to draft a letter to Seraph, he was sure she would want to hear about this.

The next day, Zepylo woke up bright and early, he had a quick jog to Razor Hill which was a settlement north of his village to drop off letters for all his friends. As he jogged back he noticed Minshina with a small group of kids he knew from training with him.

"There ya are mon!" said Minshina happily as he saw the young troll approach, the rest of the kids behind him were not alert and still half asleep.

Both Minshina and Zepylo were the only morning people there. "I trust ya brought ya gear wit ya" asked Minshina.

Zepylo checked his backpack and he still had his bow and arrows on it, he had his pouches with antivenin in case he had a close call with a Scorpid. As he gripped his spear he nodded. Minshina smiled fondly and gestured Zepylo to follow.

The group made its way to the beach and made a small camp amongst rock on the shore.

There they cooked breakfast, the children continued to chatter amongst friends as Zepylo ate his bread and meat alone.

Minshina noticed the separation between the oblivious group and the loner and felt nostalgic, he too was a loner in his youth, he still was, but at least his brother was always there for him. Zepylo was an only child on the other hand.

As everyone finished eating, Minshina told them to gather round.

"Children, before we begin I warn ya. Nature and her creatures must be treated with respect, if ya don't, well, try not to think about that" he said with an impish smile.

All the young hunters nodded, "Your final test as to prove yourselves as hunters is to tame a wild creature as your loyal companion, your friend, your guardian. But be wary as you choose, the creature you choose for yourself is not only your ally but also part of you. Choose a creature with a kindred spirit to yours, a creature capable of understanding ya, a creature capable of loving ya and one that you can understand and love. Because in the end, if you make a creature care for you like that, if ya ever find yourself alone. That creature will be there for you" he said as he laid down on a rock looking at the ocean.

The hunters looked about themselves, "That's it master?" asked one of the orchish boys.

"Yup, go get yourselves some companions".

The group looked about themselves and set out in pairs or trios, but Zepylo went alone, the sun wasn't even up yet, there was still a cool air about.

Zepylo looked quietly at the creatures in the area from atop a large rock. He contemplated each of them quietly; which one would be best for him. He saw a group of boars grazing idly on the dry vegetation, he instantly discarded the idea, boars were very protective and made good pets but he wanted something more soulful than a creature with a food based mind track.

He glanced at some Scorpids, their wicked stingers and tough claws, these make excellent hunting partners and guardians. But they don't go too far in affection. He thought for a moment about a lion, or a wolf, he discarded the idea seeing as there were none nearby and that he didn't particularly like either of them despite being very affectionate and making great hunting partners.

As Zepylo contemplated his possibilities he hear some grunting nearby, it was frustrated and angry grunting.

He followed the noise quietly and followed it to its source. A bloodtalon raptor caught in a hunter's trap.

As Zepylo saw the creature, the same, stopped moving and remained perfectly still returning the hunter's gaze. Zepylo approached the creature quietly and calmly as to not scare it, he was surprised when the little raptor started to growl maliciously.

Hissing at the troll, the small raptor wiggled and tried to at least be able to sit in the net, but to no avail. Zepylo, drew his knife and calmly spoke to the creature, "I'm gonna get ya out, don't bite me, ok?" he said trying to see if the raptor would at least calm down as it saw he meant it no harm by being friendly as it was at his mercy.

The raptor stopped growling, Zepylo was about to bend down and let it out but he saw something he didn't like in the raptor's eyes.

He decided to tackle this but behind the raptor's back so he would be less at risk from harm. The trapped beast followed the trolls movements and refused to let him out of his sight, Zepylo then decided to cut the base of the net rather than risk and obvious bite from the agitated creature. He gripped his spear and maneuvered it to the base of the net and cut it as the raptor squirmed. As he finished cutting the last tie, he backed off as the moody creature almost jumped out of the netting, he held his lance in a defensive manner not knowing if the raptor wanted to fight. The same looked straight at the troll and twitched its claws, only to slowly walk away from him and dash away, probably to its pack.

Zep stayed there quietly for a moment, he smiled and thought about the raptor. Its ruby red scales, it's ebony claws and talons, it's emerald eyes and stripes on its hips. He wanted that raptor, it had a lot of fight in it and was determined to resist even in the situation it was in.

Zepylo had heard stories about raptors and how they communicate, strange creatures how they act and behave. He decided to have some of his snacks and set a date of sorts, as he learned during his time as a loner in nature; the best way to earn a creature's trust is through its stomach.

**So whaddya think? Here's a cookie! Please R&R**


	2. Chapter 2

**Red**

The young raptor bounded away from the tusked thing that had let her out of the net, she was relieved but she was not grateful. Bloodtalons were strong and needed nothing from any other species, what would the other males think of her if they knew she had been caught in a snare and had been set free?

Since she was a chick, the raptor had identified herself very simply with the extent of the communication capable of a Bloodtalon. Raptors, think in images and in the memory of sounds and smells. From her youth, she had not chosen her self-recognition to be based on her talons, hunting ability, or her disposition towards play.

Her first, self-cognitive thought as a chick as she took a good look at herself and her kin, was very simple.

Me…..Red Raptor…….Me…..Red….Red, Red, Red!

She had always been an ill humored little thing, although she had grown up faster than her siblings because she was the most selfish and quick of the group, essentially;

Food! GRAB NOW, GRAB,GRAB, GRAB!

She was the smallest of the group and had been shunned for being the runt. Most males looked at her with a form of disdain because, her genes were thought to be likely stunted and would not produce good, healthy Bloodtalons.

She slowed down as she gained some distance, the thought of her pack leader, a relatively large female by the name of Stripe made her feel self-conscious. She stopped running and looked at her thighs, they were lean, no layer of fat on top of them, and her tail was also thin, no fat on that either.

If the churning pot of thought that was her mind could be placed into thoughts, they would have sounded like this;

_I'm too skinny. Stripe looks much better than me, Talon doesn't even notice me anymore._

Red sighed and grunted in frustration as she trudged back to the little ravine that was the Bloodtalon nesting ground. As she approached, all of the raptors took a glance and a sniff in her direction, as they identified her as part of the pack, they went back to what they were doing.

Red walked as elegantly as she could, past Stripe's nest where she and Talon were sitting just enjoying the breeze and sniffing it for any Stormtail Thunderers. Red, tried to imitate Stripes long graceful gait right past Talon as to catch his eye.

As she does his yellow eyes shift to her and linger on her for a moment, Red suppressed a chick-like squeak of delight and also fought a smile, which for raptors is stretching the back of their lips which looks more like a snarl, but it's an expression of happiness none the less. Talon's noticing her was just the pick me up she was looking for. Her mood plummeted however because she stumbled as she passed him, too distracted to notice a small root that hooked itself in between her killing claw and her three other toes.

Stripe got up angrily and stepped casually around the nest and nipped Red's tail and hissed loudly at her.

The alpha female, does not tolerate competition for a mate.

Red took half a second too long to get up and was bitten on the tail, she found herself being chased away from the nest by Stripe who only chased her for a few dozen yards.

Raptors are smarter than most creatures, and they are privy to the feeling of humiliation.

After being chased out into the rest of the rocky setting of Durotar, Red grudgingly moped around, she had nowhere to be and nowhere where she was wanted, she was however, very, very hungry. She raised her head and looked around, she spied the ocean in the distance and the plains to the west past the big river. North, she could see the big, big nest where all of the orcs and tusked things went to. As the wind shifted she could smell something sweet in the air.

Meat

She could tell it was meat, but not any kind she had ever smelled before. It wasn't sweet like boars's or sour like scorpid's, it was, hearty somehow. Red was in very low spirits, and didn't have the mental energy to hunt, whatever the meat was, it was close, perhaps she could get a few scraps before anyone else got to it.

Plucking herself up and growling at nothing in particular, she trotted off towards the smell of the delectable food, and where, she remembered, she had been freed from the net by the tusked thing.

What was it that those things called themselves?

Trolls she remembered as she leafed through her memory.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Zep sat placidly in the little area where he had set free the raptor, he shifted his position to the rocks against the direction of the ocean as to not get a lot of sun, beyond that, the breeze was a little chilly and the sun had not yet warmed Kalimdor.

He had brought a little bit of wolf meat in his satchel, cooking these into steaks was one of his most favored things to do. Especially during the morning or the afternoon.

Bless Rakanus for his thoughtfulness.

As he cooked two strips of it in an impromptu fire pit he left one of the strips to waft its scent in the air, he had previously shooed away a scorpid and three boars as menacingly as he could.

He was waiting for a very special guest.

"Don't worry, about the man, cuz every little cut, is gonna heal alright. Three little parrots, singing in front of me hut, I smile wit the rising sun. Grab your spear and go hunting fo heads" hummed Zepylo thinking about the troll song from the Isles, it was a little song from the times of the Troll Human Wars.

He stopped humming as he saw a speck of crimson in his peripheral, the same raptor had stopped dead when it saw him. Obviously it was not expecting to see him again. The raptor glanced at him and at the meat almost mechanically.

Zepylo gestured the raptor to approach, more than anything, it glared at him and stood high, trying to seem as large as possible, which was not saying much on physical terms. But Zep understood the meaning it was trying to convey almost casually. Like it was maintaining its distance not because she was being cautious, but because she felt like it.

She craned her neck and clicked her killing claw trying to seem as intimidating and threatening as possible, eyeing him with scrutiny.

Red, felt frustrated, she was starving and the troll was not moving. Why wouldn't anyone be afraid of her like they should be?

The hissed menacingly, and still the troll, followed her movements with calm, not at all put off by her behavior.

She stopped dead in her tracks when the troll got up and took half of the meat and threw it at her almost casually.

Red picked it up in her snout within a second and gobbled it down, thighs tense, as she half expected him to chase her, but he didn't.

She lost track of how long she glared at the troll as it ate placidly while it looked at her. She had mock charged him twice, but after the first one, he didn't even flinch. He had held out his hand with a tiny little morsel of meat and it took her ten minutes to close the distance between herself and the troll and snatch the meat out of his hand and dash away again with a growl, kicking up sand. As she reached her twenty feet, safety line, she would calm down and continue glaring at him.

The small raptor circled him a few times trying to figure him out, he used objects to make a fire and heat the food, and while it was delicious, she preferred it raw. Why would he spoil the food by boiling the blood was beyond her, why make the meat dry?

And he had a bag, which he pulled stuff out of. Some of it was shiny and round, he had few of those little round things.

She was upset with him when he held out his hand with no food and tried to touch her snout. Red bit him in response and left him there, offended.

She was a Bloodtalon, she should have bitten his finger's off for petting her!

Red went back to her nest that night, some of the other raptors sniffed the new meat on her and she growled as she fluffed her nest for the night. The troll was her secret, he had good meat with him, dry, but otherwise ok. She wondered if she would see him there tomorrow.

She growled before settling down and went to sleep, the troll was an ok sort. He was still out of place in trying to touch her, but otherwise ok. Maybe she would feel comfortable enough to wander a little bit closer next time.

If she felt like it…..


End file.
